This new tropical neighborhood bar is coming to downtown Chandler in fall 2019

A selection of drinks that will be offered at Chandler Yacht Club when it opens this fall.(Photo: Julian Wright)

Las Palmas Cantina is closing, but fans of its tropical feel need not worry — the bar and restaurant's replacement will only kick the beachy vibe up a notch.

Owner Julian Wright will shutter the restaurant this fall and open a new concept called Chandler Yacht Club shortly after in the same space.

Wright, who’s also the person behind Tempe brewery Pedal Haus, says Chandler Yacht Club will be a nautical and tropical-themed neighborhood bar.

"(The Yacht Club is) tongue in cheek in that there’s clearly no water nearby,” Wright says. “We just think that sort of sets the tone for what we hope will be a really fun and entertaining place to hang out.”

Why Las Palmas is closing

Wright says he decided to close Las Palmas Cantina, which serves Mexican coastal cuisine, because he feels the market for taco-and-tequila concepts is saturated in metro Phoenix. Plus, he wanted to have some fun.

“We felt Las Palmas was just a little too serious and … slightly boring,” he says.

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Traces of Las Palmas will remain in the new spot. Fans will still be able to get some of their favorite drinks and dishes at the new restaurant, including tacos, nachos, guacamole and ceviche. And Wright says the restaurant’s layout will be similar to that of Las Palmas.

But expect a different feel at Chandler Yacht Club.

“It’s almost like if you stumbled across a yacht club in a Caribbean island,” Wright says.

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What to expect at Chandler Yacht Club

Between Las Palmas’s closing and Chandler Yacht Club’s opening, the building will transform. The revamped space will be more colorful and feature tropical touches including two huge hand-carved tiki statues and palapas, open-sided structures with thatched roofs.

“The goal is that driving by or walking in the front door, the first thing people notice is this really cool, lit-up space with a lot of personality,” Wright says.

Wright also plans to put the space’s 2,000-square-foot back patio to use. The renovated space will include outdoor grills, and Wrights says he hopes to host live music weekly.

“Chandler’s definitely kind of growing its live music footprint, and so we’ll be helping to contribute to that,” Wright says.

Wright hopes to make Chandler Yacht Club the place to go for birthdays and other celebrations, which is why the new restaurant will have larger tables to accommodate groups. Las Palmas’s largest table can seat eight whereas one of Chandler Yacht Club’s new tables will seat 18.

New menu is all about sharing

While some Las Palmas menu favorites will make the cut, most of Chandler Yacht Club’s food and drink menu will be new. The menu is still in the works, but in keeping with Wright’s celebration-oriented mission, it will be geared more toward sharable plates.

“The goal is to have dishes that are visually fun and flavorful and executed consistently,” he says.

The sharing theme also shows up in the drink menu, which will include large-format drinks. The drink list also will play off the concept’s tropical style — think colorful libations, tiki glassware and a drink served in an inflatable pink flamingo.